Statistics show more than 20 percent of Spartanburg residents live in poverty

Tuesday

Apr 15, 2014 at 5:20 PM

About 26 percent of Spartanburg city residents live below the poverty line and of those, 17 percent earn less than $10,000 annually.

BY LYNNE P. SHACKLEFORDlynne.shackleford@shj.com

About 26 percent of Spartanburg city residents live below the poverty line and of those, 17 percent earn less than $10,000 annually. Those statistics, along with others on the city's housing stock and demographics, were presented to City Council Monday as part of its five-year action plan submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.Community Services Director Mitch Kennedy said the five-year action plan is a snapshot of the city, which is required by HUD for cities that apply for Community Development Block grant and HOME funds. After the presentation, Councilwoman Jan Scalisi said she was surprised at the number of residents who live below the poverty line and the high number of renters in the city.The city has a population of 37,401 in 15,182 households and about a quarter of city residents live below the poverty line — higher than 13.2 percent of South Carolina residents who live below the poverty line. City residents have an average age of 33.7 and the average household size is 2.27.The average income for city residents is $33,098 — well below the state's average income of $44,623 and Spartanburg County's average income of $43,421.About 81 percent of city residents have a high school diploma or higher, compared with 84 percent of residents statewide.About 11 percent of businesses in the city are owned by minorities or women.The homeownership rate in the city is about 51 percent with a median home price of $115,000, and 75 percent of single-family houses were built before 1980 — underlying a need for new housing stock in the city. About 150 single-family structures are condemned. Of the 17,516 total housing units (including vacant) in the city, 6,950 are rental units and 70 percent of tenants pay more than $500 monthly for rent. Kennedy said 54 percent of renters pay more than 30 percent of their income in housing costs compared with 33 percent of homeowners who pay the same percentage of income in housing costs.“I'm most upset by the poverty figures,” Scalisi said. “The median income is lower than in the state and county, and if we don't think poverty levels affects everyone, this shows that it does.”Scalisi made the connection between lower income levels with lower percentages of homeownership. Scalisi asked Kennedy specifically how the city plans to address some of the issues. Kennedy said that through community meetings, city staff heard from residents who want the city to focus on the following priorities: removal of slum and blight, new home construction, rehabilitation of owner-occupied housing, infrastructure improvements, rental housing rehabilitation, Fair Housing and financial literacy programs and homeownership counseling.Kennedy said the city works with several partners, including the Spartanburg Housing Authority, to improve mixed-income housing areas and to increase homeownership. The city is in the process of hiring a minority business coordinator to recruit and retain minority- and women-owned businesses. During the next five years, the city will focus on Beaumont, Forest Park, Highland, South Converse, Midtowne Heights neighborhoods, in addition to the Northside area.